Eleven o'clock and not a dish washed

   

Finding myself late to the laptop this morning  - and with much to do today - I automatically thought of that saying about being behind with things. It was uttered often by my former colleague G., when we shared an office and would keep each other entertained with commentaries on our respective cases and gripes about the inefficiencies of others. If phone calls or other interruptions held us back from the business of the day, the dish-washing exclamation would be invoked and we would then get on.

     People often assume that life within a legal practice is dull, but my experience was far from that. Entering a partner's room you might find anything from a brace of pheasant hanging on a filing cabinet (we acted for the owners of large tracts of rural Scotland), to the ashes of a deceased client sitting on a mantelpiece waiting to be scattered according to the terms of their will.

     Working in litigation brought me into contact with all sorts of people, though not the criminal fraternity (unsavoury perhaps, but the theoretical side of criminal law is actually fascinating), and it would be true to say that with regard to the files on my desk, "all life was there". I dealt with grievances, tragedies and even comedy, as when I was the instructing solicitor on a possible action of passing-off involving the Loch Ness Monster. Consulting counsel at the Old Town premises of the Faculty of Advocates late on a dark, dreich Friday evening about what was actually a very serious business matter, I couldn't keep a straight face, and nor could the QC.

     We didn't need actual clients to bring drama into the office, however, as we had our own in-house master of the art. My boss at one time was the legal equivalent of this man: maverick, irascible, irreverent, very clever and almost impossible to work with. Maddening he may have been, but he knew his stuff and was refreshingly straightforward in a world where deviousness often figures.

     I left the profession to be a full-time mother, and aware that I couldn't do justice to both occupations at the same time, have never returned to the law. Yes, I sometimes miss it and the professional standing which went with it, and it's almost time I replaced it with something else, but for now, I'd better get on with those dishes.....

    

Comments

[Peter the flautist]

No, no surely the dishes can wait. We want more from Cornflower!

The flautist

[Peg]

Being a mother to teenagers can sometimes seem like being a lawyer handing out justice! The client is not always best pleased with the fine - "Clean up your room, or else!"
We're having lamb shanks for dinner, can you smell them in Edinburgh?
Also trying some new veggie recipes and finishing it off with strawberry shortcake! Of course, DH will find a delicious bottle of red wine in the cellar! Life certainly is sweet!

[dovegreyreader]

I had a 7 yr break to do mothering Karen and have never regretted that time at home with the children,then suddenly the day dawned when I knew I had to get back into harness and suddenly it seemed possible.It was tough back then persuading people at interview that you could do it and of course in those days children were still held against you on the reliability stakes.Good luck with it all but of course Cornflower must take priority!